Published by ORLY BERNARDINO

   SKOKIE, Illinois – Instead of computers, there were hard hats, instead of keyboards, there were shovels.
   Gone are the computer labs and classrooms. Gone are the students. And so is the American Academy of Computer Science. The lot on the corner of Niles Center Road and Skokie Blvd. is now conspicuously vacant and fenced-in. But not for long.

    On Monday, May 19 at about 10:30 in the morning, Mr. Abdul Matin, President and founder of Fortune Group, presided over the ground breaking ceremonies for the Skokie Gardens Condominiums. In attendance were village officials headed by Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen, members of the Village Planning Commission and selected guests from the real estate and financial planning sectors.
    The ground breaking signaled the start of the construction process. By mid 2004, the 70-unit luxurious condominiums will be completed, a timetable Mr. Matin said will be kept at every stage of the construction process.
    In his opening remarks, Mr. Matin praised the Mayor and the members of the Village Planning Commission and the Village Board of Trustees, who all had a hand in getting the project approved.
    “We designed the condo to make it look neat and different from any other project out there,” Mr. Matin said. “We selected every material to make it feel like you’re not in Chicago, you’re not in Skokie, you’re not in Morton Grove nor in Lincolnwood. You’re in a different world, a different place…The buyers who’ll be living in the building will see a lot of sun, they’re going to see a completely new environment which is not out there now.”
    He emphasized the project will be a joint effort with the village, with the architect, and with all contractors.
   “This is going to be a unique project and it’s going to be successful,” he said.
   Mayor Van Dusen said that the Skokie Gardens is a very important project for the village as it is a part of the West Dempster Street redevelopment.
“We are trying to redevelop this entire area and we want to make it a transportation friendly corridor…we are redeveloping the Skokie Swift and the whole area is going to be remodeled within the next year.”

   He spoke of how Skokie is a very appealing place to live in, that it offers the best municipal services in Northern Illinois, the reason, he said, why the Skokie Gardens project is taking place.
    “We’re the first and only municipality in the entire country to have a public works, police and fire departments that are all fully accredited.”
    “For a small municipality like us, we’re only 64,000, to be able to achieve that kind of status nationally says something about the professionalism of our staff…it’s also an invitation to developers who are imaginative like yourself,” he said, as he nodded in the direction of Mr. Matin, “to come to the village and build.”
    For his part, architect Mr. Larry Basil, said he appreciated working with the municipal arm of the village to get the project going, the planning commission, liaison and reps in the village staff who showed exactly what the parameters are to get the project into a positive flow.
   “There was tremendous dialogue, a lot of give and take, real good effort on everyone’s part. I think this serves as a real model of how development works especially here in Skokie.”
   With a very narrow site to work with, he said that the building represented one of their more unique challenges. Still, they managed to design a huge open environment with units where one could walk in and find there’s a lot of open spaces, a natural light flowng throughout the unit, large balconies, and good arrangements.
   “All this,” he said, “comes through the cooperative effort between ourselves and Mr. Matin who’s a man of vision. I hope that you remember this day because I think you’ll be seeing a lot more of the Fortune Development Group.”
   The formal ground breaking rites soon followed with 30 hard hats embossed with “Fortune Group” passed out to the crowd along with ten new shovels that were handed to village officials and special guests.
    Last Monday, 30% of the Skokie Gardens had already been sold. As of today, the figure has jumped to 40%. Units are going fast due to the huge savings from pre-construction pricing which starts at $299,900.

The Fortune Group Sales Center is open Monday through Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; Sunday 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
For more information, please call at (847)933-0800.